Walkaway, by Cory Doctorow

Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a book of ideas, in some ways a throwback to older science fiction in that the ideas are front and center, and the characters are mostly mouthpieces for them. I do not think of this as a bad thing, and thoroughly enjoyed the book. It made me think all the way through. Yes, the premise is a bit contrived, that cheap fabrication and smart design render both ownership and expertise somewhat optional (though he has to take the latter back a bit in the second half of the book, as we get immortality and warfare). But he's not the first person to imagine post-scarcity communalism, the idea that we will have more than enough for everyone if we stop hoarding. I'm thinking of B. F. Skinner's Walden II. Yes it's preachy, because what you are getting is Doctorow's analysis of current events and a prediction about how it would go if a critical mass of people started to try some really radical solutions. It's possible he didn't spend enough time motivating the dystopia--the system has become even more transparently rigged than it is now, we have company towns and indenture making a comeback. My main critique would be that he set it too far in the future. We could be doing this in 30 years. Not a perfect novel, but the story often grabbed me so I think it worked.



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